11- The Prophet ﷺ pointed out what people usually do: they chase after those four qualities and relegate “piety” to the end. He therefore commanded that what they postpone be brought to the fore, saying, “So you, seeker of guidance, secure the woman of religion and attain success through her.”

It is related that a man once came to al-Hasan al-Baṣrī and said, “I have a daughter whom I cherish; many suitors have asked for her hand. Whom do you advise me to marry her to?” He replied, “Marry her to a man who fears Allah. If he loves her he will honor her, and if he comes to dislike her he will not wrong her.”

12- The ḥadith also shows that using expressions whose outward wording is a supplication, or whose apparent meaning is blame and censure—phrases current on the tongues of the Arabs or of people in general—carries no sin for the speaker so long as he does not intend their literal sense but merely employs them as common idioms. Examples include: “taribat yadāk” (may your hands be dust-covered), “thakilatka ummuk” (may your mother be bereft of you), and “wayla ummihi misʿar ḥarb” (woe to his mother, a firebrand of war), and the like.